The New Priest Talent Tiers

Overall, I think that the new ideas for the talents are really interesting and cool. However, I am really disliking that some tiers will have a definite "better" choice for PvE, which is what Blizzard wanted to get away from. Granted, it's only barely in an Alpha state, so obviously things will change a lot in the coming months, but here are some of my initial thoughts as a Shadow Priest.

Tier 1 - The two new abilities, Void Tendrals and Psyfiends, are really neat ideas. I can't see them being much use for PvE, so I'll be going with the boring Psychic Scream, but I'm still loving them.

Tier 2 - As shadow, I can see myself using any of these a lot. Personally, I'll probably choose Body and Soul for most fights since it can be good in a PvE pinch, but the levitate talent is awesome and Phantasm is great for any movement speed reducing fight like H Saurfang was in ICC.

Tier 3 - Some big worries. 1. Divine Star seems holy-based. Can we use it in shadow form? 2. It seems like we're being forced to pick between a lot of DPS cooldowns. There will surely be a "best" if you're looking to min/max unless blizzard REALLY tries to balance them all, otherwise everyone will end up taking the same talent. 3. The wording of Archangel for shadowform makes me wonder if we will still have Dark Evangelism. 4. Surge of Darkness: "... cause your next Mind Blast to be instant cast and have no Shadow Orb cost" - will Mind Blast consume Shadow Orbs instead of using mana, like Holy Power for Paladins?

Tier 4 - I'm loving that these are personal-CD based. I really like that we'll be able to pick some sort of self-defensive ability based on our playstyle (personally, I'll probably take Angelic Bulwark since on-demand extra absorbs are awesome). My only issue is that of Desperate Prayer. It's a heal, so can we use it in Shadowform like Druids can use Renewal (Tier 2) in all shapeshift forms? This issue stuck out because we are still not able to use Gift of the Naaru in Shadowform even though that's not a priest-only spell.

Tier 5 - Again, it seems like we're being forced between a DPS cooldowns and an execute phase. There will most likely be a "better" choice between PI and Twist of Fate. Not cool. Granted, if it's as easy to change these as glyphs (as was promised), hopefully it won't be TOO much of an issue depending on the fight.

Tier 6 - LOVING that this Vampiric Dominance is a smart heal. Finally, no more wasted VE ticks. The Void Shift is also really interesting and I could see how that would be extremely useful in some fights in the past (plus, even more griefing if you so desire. Steal the a friend's health when you're low, bwahaha). Also, if Atonement is still present in our class after all of this hullabaloo, would it double dip from Vampiric Dominance?

Again, I'm not that fond of Tiers 3 and 5. I thought that they wanted to focus on non-DPS/HPS related playstyles for people wanting to min/max. But what are your thoughts for the new tiers?

I like the idea, but from a game that went from over 50+ talent points to now just a little less than 10. Seems strange, but I will get used it it, some spec still pave a cookie-cutter clear way of choosing between PvE and PvP talents. Hope we get tri-spec, PvE spec, PvP secp, and my "just for lulz" spec, one can hope though :>

im not a fan of this at all will be boring leveling will be more lame one of the huge things leveling was getting talent points now there will be huge voids of getting nothing i think they need to make those things spec specific so you get more abilities to choose from so like 3 shadow abilities then all the tiers then have one for disc and holy and same for other classes would feel more epic

they all sounds really cool and my self cant wait , as atm my holy priest is my main. But most of them seem to be still must have talents, so i dont see people having lots of options with them. So them going on about every one with have different trees etc is crap....

They certainly look interesting. i'm thinking they had a hard time balancing 2 different healing trees and 1 DPs tree (in my eyes the dps talents seem a little lax really) but then again most of the shadow abilities are Core so i suppose its no biggy

Think about this combo, tier 6 for priest pick vow of unity, the top part of talent dosent matter for my theory,
"50% of dmg is redirected to you" ok. Pop unity on tank and pop dispersion = GG

Granted, the end of of it says "If your target is a victim to an attack greater than 30% of their total health, the Vow of Unity ends". So you probably wouldn't really need to pop Dispersion unless the damage was a DoT (assuming that the spell means if the damage is one attack >30% of their health, not total damage taken).

I think Path of the Devout seems really awesome! ;D but I don't really like that archangel will consume orbs ;/ they are RNG enough to get -.- Will Vampiric Dominance heal me + 3 others or just 3 others? else I can kiss my soloing days goodbye ;(

Granted, the end of of it says "If your target is a victim to an attack greater than 30% of their total health, the Vow of Unity ends". So you probably wouldn't really need to pop Dispersion unless the damage was a DoT (assuming that the spell means if the damage is one attack >30% of their health, not total damage taken).

true,
On a side not about the other 2 tier 6 talents,
voidshift = stand in fire, change hp with someone you hate and life grip them into fire LOL.
Vampiric dom, if im not mistaken says "when you deal damage or HEALING" so does that mean it can be a healing talent as well?

Vampiric dom, if im not mistaken says "when you deal damage or HEALING" so does that mean it can be a healing talent as well?

Yeah, it's going to be ridiculous if people choose to go with that instead of the other CDs. I would think that it's more useful in a 25m setting where you're specifically on raid heals (just because 10m has less healers, so you may need the CDs). Nom

T1: Void Tendrils-- I see this as the most applicable for PvE.
T2: B&S-- Path is interesting, but being able to have an on demand speed boost on others is too clutch.
T3: Divine Star OR Archangel-- Have to see what changes to AA (if anything) and the base healing/coefficients on DS before making a final decision.
T4: Angelic Bulwark or Final Prayer-- I've never been a super fan of DP, and while Final Prayer looks cool, its cool factor is determinant on encounter design.
T5: Power Infusion-- This is a no contest for me, really, for PvE.
T6: Vampiric Dominance-- Need more info on VD, but even at worst case, this is crazy good. Will it work on HoTs? Will it work on Multi-target spells? Will it Crit independently? How will it interact with DA? Will both my damage from HF/Smite & Atonement trigger it? Even if the answer to all of those is no, it's still pretty awesome. Each Penance tick splashing to 3 targets? Yum. Can you see this with PoH if it works as multi target? 5 targets healed, each splashing 15% to 3 lowest targets? Assuming the raid is grouped, that means each target will receive 75% of a single target application of PoH. O.o

Not to mention if they eventually include absorbs into this ability... PW:S cleave.

I see some pretty interesting things for every aspect of play I'd be interested in; All PvE since that's what I play

Disc / Holy -

Tier 1 - Void Tendrils. I think this will be interesting is it can help isolate mobs in dungeons. If the tank is taking a bit too much damage, pop this, give him a chance to move away for a moment and get healed up.
Tier 2 - Unless they change Levitate to not break on damage, Body and Soul. That little extra speed may come in handy in certain situations to save people. Likewise, if I cast it on a tank when the boss is about to do a pound right in front of him, it could save a lot of damage and the tank could get back into position a lot faster.
Tier 3 - Really interested in Divine Star, but I think Archangel is the more required talent here. That burst healing or DPS just seems like too good of an option to lose compared to the others.
Tier 4 - Final Prayer. It seems a bit too nice to be able to save myself from death once every minute and a half. That means I can put my own life below the life of a tank or DPS that would otherwise die if I decided to keep myself up instead of worrying about them. This gives me a little bit of time to heal them, then myself before that shield breaks.
Tier 5 - Depends on how the mana situation looks in MoP. If mana is an issue, Serendipity will be my choice. If not, Power Infusion will probably be my choice. Again, that burst that the spell offers is just too nice to pass up.
Tier 6 - Vampiric Dominance. That splash damage will just make my job so much easier. A 20K heal turns into a 29K heal instantly with that spell.

Shadow -

Tier 1 - Void Tendrils again. The others don't seem like they are that reliable in PvE as the random nature of psychic scream makes it not to hot to use in dungeons. Same goes for the Psyfiend for the same reason.
Tier 2 - Honestly, none of these really appeal to me. I guess I would take Body and Soul just because.
Tier 3 - From Darkness, Comes Light. I think this one offers just the right amount of RNG for my tastes with a promise of increased DPS. Archangel is a close #2 though.
Tier 4 - Final Prayer. Again, just taking it because it may ease the stress of the healer in situations where they're going to have to choose a player to save instantly. Would be nice to tell them, "Hey, if there's two people about to die, you have a buffer on me so pick them first."
Tier 5 - Power Infusion. I think the DPS increase from this is a bit too much of a draw to move away from. Twist of Fate may be a great choice too, but without a surefire number of exactly how much more damage is being done, I'm stuck with the one I know for sure.
Tier 6 - Vampiric Dominance again. The splash healing will really help out in dungeons and raids I think. Vow of Unity is clearly a healer talent, so that goes right out the window here. Void Shift might be interesting, but I'd have to see it in action first.

Tier 1 - Void Tendrils again. The others don't seem like they are that reliable in PvE as the random nature of psychic scream makes it not to hot to use in dungeons. Same goes for the Psyfiend for the same reason.

That was my initial thought too! I love the idea of the tendrils Granted, I ended with Psychic Scream in my mind because of the glyph that instead roots the target in place and how often I end up using it as a mass-interrupt (granted, it doesn't work on Raid Boss fights). I wonder if the glyph for PsyScr will also work for the Psyfiend... hrm...